Monday, March 5, 2007

As I was swimming with Masters this evening I was thinking about counting laps. When I am seeing out-patients in the clinic, I usually have them count their reps. If I ask them how many they have done and they say, "oh 5 or 6", I make them go with the lower of the two. The patients learn quickly that they should keep track. This is the same way that I swim. And you know what? It really makes me want to keep track more closely. In a way, I feel like if you swim enough yards each practice, 50 here or there shouldn't make that much difference but then the triathlete/PT in me kicks in and I think, every single yard, every single minute counts. So I came up with a solution. One day my coach had me swimming the following as part of my workout...

I did okay keeping track of the 250s and the 500s. That 1000 is where I start to lose count. I began to use the alphabet. 1A, 2B, 3C, 4D, etc. As I swim my first lap I think of all the words I can that start with the letter A; muscles, names, places, things, etc. Lap 2 is the letter B and so on. And if in fact I do get confused I always go with the lower of the two yardages I am wavering between. A good way to review anatomy, practice for Scategories, and keep track of laps.

A quick update: Kona is doing well. I mentioned two entries ago that she cut her foot open. After 4 trips to the vet we finally got the OK to change the bandage ourselves. She still has to wear her satellite dish collar and the stitches don't come out for at least another week but we've got it down to a science. She even has a little boot that she has to wear outside in the snow so things don't get wet. The vet jokingly told us that he would totally expect that a PT would have a boot like that for their dog. Ha ha.

Kim~Say I am swimming a 500. In my 25 yd pool, that is 10 laps. So that would be A-J. I still have to count the letters in the alphabet. The first lap I think about everything that I can that starts with the letter A. Apple, Andy, Archive, April, Art, Ant, etc. Sometimes I create categories. Every name I can think of that starts with A, or every city or something. The second lap is B, third C, and the 10th is J. I don't always do this but if I can't remember what lap I am on, I can usually remember if I thought of words starting with certain letters. Seems to work and actually is sometimes fun. I swim masters so usually my sets aren't more that 1000 yds at a time. More questions? Be happy to help!

About Me

We are a family of 5. As E, M, and J change everyday we are trying to teach them to conserve and love the world that they live in with a healthy lifestyle. Here's to growing up green and a mother's mindful journey beyond just kale.